Grimacing Bunny
by Keomi-Sage
Summary: Short  very short  fluff about Hinata and Neji Hyuga


**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto **

Grimacing Bunny

Hinata leaned back from where she sat on a small bench under the shade of the hall. She was in the Hyuga's training area. Usually her father helped Neji train in the small square, but she'd come early in the morning to enjoy the day before having to head off with Shino and Kiba to train with Kurenai. She knew she _could_ be training, but she didn't want to disturb her sleeping family.

In the pale blue sky she could see the tops of trees and birds dancing through the air, singing their songs.

Hinata wished that every morning could be so nice and peaceful. It was on these days that she really just liked to _think_.

The cute kunoichi had a lot on her mind lately. She kept thinking back to her last mission; it hadn't gone horribly, but it seemed she was getting too far in the way of Kiba and Shino. Kurenai had even asked her if he could sit back and only use her Byakugan to scout ahead. Hinata had done just that, but she still felt sick inside. Even her beloved sensei was telling her to step back.

She looked down at her hands. Her hair had grown a little longer, and it fell on either side of her face, obscuring her vision. Her hands were soft and pale, though she knew she could take down an enemy within range. Well, not _any_ or _every_ enemy, but at least she could deflect weapons and spot targets.

Hinata sighed, pulling a piece of hair behind her ear. In the corner of her eye, she saw Neji, her cousin. He his face had a hint of confusion and sympathy on it. She sat up quickly, swallowing and trying to hide her surprise.

"N-Neji." She blinked. Um, g-good morning." She tried to smile, mentally cringing at the stutter that appeared in her voice.

"Good morning Lady Hinata." Neji answered. His voice wasn't cold as it had been. Hinata was grateful. "May I sit?"

Hinata nodded and shuffled over to give Neji space to sit. In the presence of her cousin she looked down, watching a bird hop around the ground looking for food in the dusty training square.

"Why are you up so early, Lady Hinata?" Neji asked without any real emotion. She wondered if he really cared why she was up or not.

"I-I bet _he_ is up right now, t-training to be the b-best ninja he can be." Hinata said softly, not really wanting her cousin to hear what she said. She missed Naruto, even if she didn't really spend time with him in the first place.

"He?" Neji said. Of course, he'd heard. "Oh, you mean Naruto Uzumaki."

Hinata looked down at her hands. "Y-Yes." She felt the heat rise to her cheeks, but thankfully she didn't faint.

"Uzumaki is an admirable person." Neji said which was the last thing Hinata thought he'd hear him say. Neji looked and saw her confusion. Ducking his head, he started again. "He is very strong, and knows how to really change a persons perspective on life. He did for me."

Hinata blinked in surprise, and smiled a real smile now. "I-I understand. I…" she stopped, remembering that day. She looked to the sky now. The blues were starting to get bluer, and the number of birds in the sky tripled. "Courage. He gave me courage."

Neji looked down at Hinata, understanding why she'd stopped speaking to him that time. It was because of their battle at the preliminaries. He'd been merciless then, cruelty and anger misdirected at her.

"Lady Hinata?" he said softly. Hinata blinked, looking up at her older cousin. "I am sorry."

Hinata's lower lip trembled before she sucked it in her mouth. Smiling as best she could, she said, "I-I am sorry, too, brother."

Neji blinked. She hadn't addressed him as brother in such a long time. Maybe now she meant 'Brother' as the connection they had maybe this was her way of saying it was okay.

Neji smiled, and Hinata smiled back. After a moment the doors at the other side of the training area opened with a swing and Kiba came in, grinning his head off. Shino walked in more calmly behind him. Akamaru sat at Kiba's side and gave a lively bark.

"Let's go, Hinata. Kurenai-sensei wants to meet us early, remember." Kiba shouted, having no respect for the still asleep Hyugas. Kiba looked with a slightly annoyed, slightly wary look on his face when he saw Neji.

Hinata sat up, glancing back at her cousin. "See you later, Neji." She turned about to go, before looking back around. 'Brother' she mouthed before leaving with her teammates.

**Cute, short little fluff about the Hyugas: who doesn't like Grimacing Bunnies. Sorry about any misspellings, I tried to go back over all of them to make sure they were spelled correctly, thanks for reading – Keomi~Sage **


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